Video catches rescue of man and 3-legged dog from flipped boat in Gulf

Published 10:52 am, Wednesday, March 19, 2014

A man and his three-legged Labrador retriever were recovering Wednesday after the U.S. Coast Guard rescued them from atop a capsized boat.

The rescue happened about 1 p.m. March 16 on the west side of Matagorda Bay, the Coast Guard said in a news release.

A towboat dispatched by Tow Boat U.S. capsized in intense weather conditions, including 20-knot winds and 4-foot waves, the release said. The towboat was on its way to to help another vessel that had run out of gas.

The towboat operator had his three-legged dog with him, said Petty Officer 2nd Class Stephen Lehmann, a Coast Guard spokesman.

A Tow Boat U.S. employee contacted the Coast Guard in Corpus Christi to report possible trouble after he lost contact with the towboat operator, the news release said.

In response, the Coast Guard launched a 45-foot rescue boat at 12:35 p.m. from Station Port O'Connor.

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A man and his three-legged dog were rescued about 1 p.m. March 16 on the west side of Matagorda Bay, the Coast Guard said.

A man and his three-legged dog were rescued about 1 p.m. March 16 on the west side of Matagorda Bay, the Coast Guard said.

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A man and his three-legged dog were rescued about 1 p.m. March 16 on the west side of Matagorda Bay, the Coast Guard said.

A man and his three-legged dog were rescued about 1 p.m. March 16 on the west side of Matagorda Bay, the Coast Guard said.

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A man and his three-legged dog were rescued about 1 p.m. March 16 on the west side of Matagorda Bay, the Coast Guard said.

A man and his three-legged dog were rescued about 1 p.m. March 16 on the west side of Matagorda Bay, the Coast Guard said.

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A man and his three-legged dog were rescued about 1 p.m. March 16 on the west side of Matagorda Bay, the Coast Guard said.

A man and his three-legged dog were rescued about 1 p.m. March 16 on the west side of Matagorda Bay, the Coast Guard said.

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A man and his three-legged dog were rescued about 1 p.m. March 16 on the west side of Matagorda Bay, the Coast Guard said.

A man and his three-legged dog were rescued about 1 p.m. March 16 on the west side of Matagorda Bay, the Coast Guard said.

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A man and his three-legged dog were rescued about 1 p.m. March 16 on the west side of Matagorda Bay, the Coast Guard said.

A man and his three-legged dog were rescued about 1 p.m. March 16 on the west side of Matagorda Bay, the Coast Guard said.

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A man and his three-legged dog were rescued about 1 p.m. March 16 on the west side of Matagorda Bay, the Coast Guard said.

A man and his three-legged dog were rescued about 1 p.m. March 16 on the west side of Matagorda Bay, the Coast Guard said.

Image 8 of 9

A man and his three-legged dog were rescued about 1 p.m. March 16 on the west side of Matagorda Bay, the Coast Guard said.

A man and his three-legged dog were rescued about 1 p.m. March 16 on the west side of Matagorda Bay, the Coast Guard said.

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Video catches rescue of man and 3-legged dog from flipped boat in Gulf

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"When we spotted the vessel it was capsized and the gentleman was on the hull and he had his dog in his lap," Petty Officer 2nd Class Gerard Wynne, coxswain of the response boat, said in the release. "The waves were breaking over the stern."

Before attempting to pluck the man from his capsized boat, rescuers threw him a lifejacket. When the response boat got close enough, the man helped his yellow Labrador to safety before jumping over himself.

"[The man] was just thankful and grateful that we were out there and he was safe," Wynne said. "He said if it was any colder he might not have made it. It might have ended up being a medical issue for him."

Cmdr. Daniel Deptula, the response officer for Sector Corpus Christi, described Tow Boat U.S. as a "trusted commercial salvage company, a trusted partner that works to keep mariners safe at sea."

A Tow Boat U.S. representative said Wednesday the rescued towboat operator and his dog were both doing well.

The boat that had run out of gas, which held four adults and three children, ended up being pushed inland by the storm, Lehmann said Wednesday.